On May 5, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Suns defeated the Lone Rangers 116-95 in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals, leading 2-0 on aggregate. In this game, when the main center was in a foul crisis and only played 18 minutes, the Suns were still unaffected, because on the bench, their two backup centers McGee and Biyombo played very well.
McKiel played just 10 minutes, but he delivered three blocks on 3-of-3 shooting. Although he has more fouls than Ayton, eating five fouls in just 10 minutes, the Suns still have a third center available after McGee is off the court, that is, Biyongbo.
He played 18 minutes and scored 9 points on 4-of-4 shooting, and his performance on the floor was even better than that of Ayton and McGee, not only eating pie steadily, but also changing defenders against Doncic and the Lone Rangers. So much so that Monty Williams, in the second half of the game, simply let him play.
Seeing that the Suns now have so many available personnel in the No. 5 position, I believe that many Suns fans will also sigh with emotion, because in last year's playoffs, the reason why the Suns were reversed by the Bucks in the Finals was that Ayton did not have a qualified substitute, resulting in once he fouled too much and could not play, the Suns had no one to match the alphabet brother, resulting in the internal line being easily exploded by the Bucks.
But this season, the Suns not only brought in McGee, but also picked up the leak to get Biyombo, with 3 qualified No. 5 players, even though Ayton sometimes does not play due to injury or is in a foul crisis, but Monty Williams is not panicked at all. Even like today's game, in the third quarter, Ayton ate his fourth offense, and then McGee ate his fifth offense, but Biyombo played and could still provide enough help to the Suns on both offensive and defensive ends.
From last season's No. 5 position without qualified substitutes, having to let Saric make a cameo, to today's 3-man rotation, the Suns' once fatal shortcomings have now become an advantage, which naturally makes their championship prospects more optimistic.